Methods and systems for sampling and/or analyzing fluid, such as production fluid from an oil and gas well

Abstract

This disclose includes methods and systems for sampling and/or analyzing fluid, such as production fluid from an oil and gas well. Some methods include receiving, into a container coupled to a production fluid conduit, production fluid from the production fluid conduit, the received production fluid having a first pressure that is substantially equal to a pressure of production fluid within the production fluid conduit, and capturing, with one or more sensors, data indicative of one or more properties of a portion of the received production fluid, wherein the portion of the received production fluid, during the capturing, has a pressure that is substantially equal to the first pressure.

1 . A method for sampling and/or analyzing production fluid from an oil and gas well, the method comprising:
 receiving, into a first chamber of a container coupled to a production fluid conduit, production fluid from the production fluid conduit, the container having:
 a second chamber; and 
 a movable divider disposed between and in fluid communication with each of the first chamber and the second chamber; 
   wherein receiving production fluid into the first chamber comprises drawing production fluid into the first chamber at least by controlling a pressure source in fluid communication with the second chamber such that a force acting on the divider due to pressure within the second chamber is reduced to, and remains as production fluid is drawn into the first chamber, less than but within 10% of a force acting on the divider due to pressure within the first chamber.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein controlling the pressure source to draw production fluid into the first chamber is performed such that, as production fluid is drawn into the first chamber, pressure within the second chamber remains less than but within 10% of pressure within the first chamber. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein controlling the pressure source to draw production fluid into the first chamber is performed such that, as production fluid is drawn into the first chamber, a difference between pressure within the first chamber and pressure within the second chamber remains less than approximately 10 pounds per square inch (psi). 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein, prior to drawing production fluid into the first chamber, pressure within the second chamber is greater than and/or substantially equal to pressure within the first chamber. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  or  2 , wherein the pressure source comprises a pump and/or controlling the pressure source comprises controlling a regulator in fluid communication with the pressure source. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  or  2 , wherein the divider comprises a piston or a flexible bladder. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  or  2 , comprising heating the container using a heating element. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  or  2 , comprising separating, within the first chamber, the received production fluid into an oil and/or gas portion and a water portion having a higher water content than that of the oil and/or gas portion. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein:
 separating the received production fluid comprises retaining the received production fluid within the first chamber for a period of time; and   optionally, the period of time is between approximately 5 minutes and approximately 60 minutes.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein separating the received production fluid comprises providing a demulsifier to the received production fluid. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  or  2 , comprising capturing, with one or more sensors, data indicative of one or more properties of at least a portion of the received production fluid. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , comprising:
 expelling at least a portion of the received production fluid from the first chamber at least by controlling the pressure source such that a force acting on the divider due to pressure within the second chamber is greater than a force acting on the divider due to pressure within the first chamber; and   directing at least a first portion of the expelled production fluid to the one or more sensors.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein controlling the pressure source to expel the portion of the received production fluid is performed such that, as the portion of the received production fluid is expelled from the first chamber, a force acting on the divider due to pressure within the second chamber remains within 10% of a force acting on the divider due to pressure within the first chamber. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , comprising:
 directing at least a second portion of the expelled production fluid to at least one of the production fluid conduit and a reservoir;   wherein directing the first and second portions is performed based, at least in part, on data captured by a sensor that is indicative of a water content of the first portion and/or the second portion.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the sensor comprises an optical sensor. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more properties comprises a total dissolved solids (TDS) content, a pH, an alkalinity, a total hardness, a hydrogen sulfide content, an ammonia content, a hydrocarbon content, a carbon dioxide content, a total metal carbonate content, a total metal sulfate content, a total metals content, a sodium chloride content, a silicate content, an iron content, a calcium content, a sodium content, a magnesium content, a potassium content, a strontium content, a chlorine content, a chloride content, a bicarbonate content, a phosphorous content, a boron content, a barium content, a sulfate content, an iron content, a nickel content, a chromium content, a cobalt content, a molybdenum content, a specific gravity, a conductivity, a saturation index and/or ratio, a resistivity, a pressure, and/or a temperature. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more sensors comprises a spectrophotometer. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more sensors comprises a pH probe. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more sensors comprises a conductivity probe. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more sensors comprises an ion-selective electrode. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 11 , comprising calibrating at least one of the one or more sensors at least by capturing, with the at least one sensor, data indicative of one or more properties of a fluid, wherein at least one of the one or more properties of the fluid is known. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the fluid comprises a stock solution and/or a diluent. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the stock solution and/or the diluent comprises water, an alcohol, a glycol, a mineral acid, an organic acid, a buffer, and/or ammonium hydroxide. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 11 , comprising providing one or more diluents to the portion of the received production fluid. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 11 , comprising providing one or more reagents to the portion of the received production fluid. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein at least one of the one or more reagents is responsive to pH and/or alkalinity and comprises thymol blue, methyl red, bromothymol blue, bromocresol green, bromocresol purple, and/or phenolphthalein. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein at least one of the one or more reagents is responsive to iron and comprises 1,10-phenanthroline, 4,7-diphenyl-l,IO-phenanthroline, 2,4,6-tris(2-pyridyl)-1,3,5triazine, 2,2 bypyridine, potassium cyanide, and/or 2,2′,2″ tripyridine. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein at least one of the one or more reagents comprises a chelating agent. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the chelating agent comprises ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), disuccinic acid, glucoheptonate, monoethanolethylenediamine triacetic acid, diethylenatriamine pentacetic acid, and/or citric acid. 
     
     
         30 . A system for sampling and/or analyzing production fluid from an oil and gas well, the system comprising:
 a container having:
 a first chamber configured to be in fluid communication with a production fluid conduit; 
 a second chamber; and 
 a movable divider disposed between and in fluid communication with each of the first chamber and the second chamber; 
   a pressure source configured to be in fluid communication with the second chamber; and   a processor configured to control the pressure source such that, as production fluid is drawn into the first chamber, a difference between a force acting on the divider due to pressure within the second chamber and a force acting on the divider due to pressure within the first chamber remains less than or equal to a threshold value.   
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 30 , wherein the processor is configured to control the pressure source such that, as production fluid is expelled from the first chamber, a difference between a force acting on the divider due to pressure within the second chamber and a force acting on the divider due to pressure within the first chamber remains less than or equal to a threshold value. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 30  or  31 , comprising:
 one or more sensors configured to capture data indicative of a difference between a force acting on the divider due to pressure within the second chamber and a force acting on the divider due to pressure within the first chamber; 
 wherein the processor is configured to control the pressure source based, at least in part, on data captured by the one or more sensors. 
 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 32 , wherein the one or more sensors includes a sensor configured to capture data indicative of pressure within the second chamber and/or a sensor configured to capture data indicative of pressure within the first chamber. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 30  or  31 , wherein the pressure source comprises a pump and/or the processor is configured to control the pressure source by controlling a regulator in fluid communication with the pressure source. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 30  or  31 , wherein the divider comprises a piston or a flexible bladder. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 30  or  31 , comprising a heating element configured to heat the container. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 30  or  31 , comprising a first conduit configured to be in fluid communication with the first chamber and to convey production fluid expelled from the first chamber to one or more sensors configured to capture data indicative of one or more properties of the production fluid. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37 , comprising a second conduit configured to be in fluid communication with the first chamber and to convey production fluid expelled from the first chamber to at least one of the production fluid conduit and a reservoir. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 38 , comprising:
 one or more valves configured to control fluid communication through the first and second conduits; and   a sensor configured to capture data indicative of a water content of production fluid within the second conduit;   wherein the one or more valves are configured to block fluid communication through the second conduit and allow fluid communication through the first conduit based, at least in part, on data captured by the sensor.   
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the sensor comprises an optical sensor. 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein the one or more properties comprises a TDS content, a pH, an alkalinity, a total hardness, a hydrogen sulfide content, an ammonia content, a hydrocarbon content, a carbon dioxide content, a total metal carbonate content, a total metal sulfate content, a total metals content, a sodium chloride content, a silicate content, an iron content, a calcium content, a sodium content, a magnesium content, a potassium content, a strontium content, a chlorine content, a chloride content, a bicarbonate content, a phosphorous content, a boron content, a barium content, a sulfate content, an iron content, a nickel content, a chromium content, a cobalt content, a molybdenum content, a specific gravity, a conductivity, a saturation index and/or ratio, a resistivity, a pressure, and/or a temperature. 
     
     
         42 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein the one or more sensors comprises a spectrophotometer. 
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein the one or more sensors comprises a pH probe. 
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein the one or more sensors comprises a conductivity probe. 
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein the one or more sensors comprises an ion-selective electrode. 
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 30  or  31 , wherein the system is coupled to a wellhead.